Nov. 5, 2014: Act to defeat the money monster in politics, end the perpetual political war, and fix a failed Congress in Washington. Click on label "A. Current status" to right.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Can Rep.-elect Palmer say anything?

Can Representative-elect Palmer say anything?

Can he say anything about fundamental reform? Whether the country needs it? Or doesn't need it? Whether he is for reform? What reform he is for? Whether he is against it? What reform he is specifically against?

Just after Election Day, we reported back on our initial findings about the election results. Over the past month, we’ve been digging into the data more to better understand what went right, what went wrong, and what direction we should take going forward.

Today we’re releasing our final report — plus all the data behind the report — and a sketch of what’s next.

I wanted to do both in writing. (Remember, Lessig the academic.) But the team finds my writing boring. So we asked a researcher and statistician, Karina Qian, to pull together a pretty comprehensive report about the election, and I shot this video to introduce it, and to introduce our plans for moving forward. Click here to watch.

We've learned lots from this election. We have not learned to give up. And the most important thing that I’ve learned is from the emails that I’ve read from you: That we can’t wait for the next election. We must continue this work now.

So over the next year, that’s what we’re going to do. Our team is already spec-ing out a platform that will make it possible for our most important resource — you — to help us recruit members of Congress to support reform. That’s not a platform to ask for money. And it won’t demand much of the voters’ time. But it will enable us to recruit voters in targeted districts to make a simple ask of their incumbent representatives: Will you co-sponsor fundamental reform? And then to create the campaign to get them to yes.

We will launch this next stage formally at SXSW (South by Southwest) in March. And over the next three months, as we build this platform, we will keep you updated at least once a month, and we’ll ask for your advice and help. If you want to help us beta-test the platform as it's developed— both the online and offline components — click here. Because we will really need your help.

So stay tuned, and please stay committed. 90% of America wants what we want — to “reduce the corrupting influence of money in politics.” We are going to do everything we can to get us there. We’ve taken one important step. There are more to come.

You can read our final report here. And if you want to dig deep, you can download our data (CC-0 licensed) here.

Thank you for everything you have done over these past six months. If we were all together (and that would require Dodger Stadium), I’d also ask you to join me in thanking an amazing team — some paid, many volunteers, and all incredibly committed. I am grateful beyond any words for all of that, and hopeful — more hopeful than ever — about where we’re going.